


last night i layed in bed so blue ('cause i realized the truth, they can't love me like you)

by callistoisnotaplanet



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Exes, Getting Back Together, Heartbreak, Implied Relationships, M/M, Someone give them a hug, can you tell i have a week spot for jeno?, i guess, it's 2009, jaemin best boy, kinda funny, lots of 90s music reference, markhyuck are stubborn as hell, mentions of past trauma, minor nohyuck, park jisung is an annoying little shit, the author knows nothing of football, they're fine, we love him tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24539050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callistoisnotaplanet/pseuds/callistoisnotaplanet
Summary: When Donghyuck found a yellow post-it inside his locker with the message “Hey babe, missed me? ;)” the first thing that came to his mind it was “Fucking hell”. The second one was that his day just got a lot more complicated and the reason just got back with a winky face.(Or alternatively, hearts break and time goes by but this song always reminded me of you!)
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Kudos: 19





	last night i layed in bed so blue ('cause i realized the truth, they can't love me like you)

**Author's Note:**

> hello people! i'm back!  
> -took me three months to write this first chapter and we can only hope i write the second.  
> -we have a playlist (i recomend listening to it before but it's not necessary to understand ): [donghyuck's lee playlist for dealing with headache caused by pretty boys](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Wlnd2lrMk6ixzZr0Tuhdb?si=fqyBwM7PS2i1eIDAjaUgTA)  
> -[CHECK THE MOODBOARD PLEASE](https://padlet.com/planetcallisto/9v0kyj1oo3oke9mr)  
> -this was inspired by little mix's love me like you  
> -there are more characters that are not tagged but i mention a bunch of times  
> -and please leave comments ^^  
> enjoy!

_Friday Morning, Donghyuck and Renjun’s Dorm. 24th October. 5:28 AM._

_Here goes nothing._

Already fresh out the shower and fully clothed, Donghyuck slams the bathroom door on purpose. Waking up Jeno, who is lying on the floor. He looks around the room with a confused face and stops at Donghyuck, starring him up and down, seeing him already in the school’s navy uniform. “ _Good morning sunshine_.” He greets the boy with a smirk, face irradiating too much smugness for someone who just woke up and leans on his arm, still staring.

Donghyuck replies with an amused look on his face.

“Stop calling me that.” He crosses his arms and questions “Don’t you have early practice Lee Jeno?”

“Well, don’t you have an early class, Lee Donghyuck?” 

“I'm ready and a whole two hours to spare, thank you very much.” Donghyuck sighs amused “You on the other hand...” He says eyeing Jeno’s white t-shirt and ripped light blue jeans - his usual outfit when he’s not on the field - and tries to remember if the football team still has early practices on fridays. It’s been quite a while since he was woken up unintentionally on every damn friday morning because of crazy early practices on game week. One of the things he doesn't miss it.

“And who says I'm not ready for practice?” Jeno says raising his eyebrows in defiance.

_I guess some things never change._

“I don’t know about you but I would not play football in jeans.”

Or at all. He doesn’t even like to watch, but lately Renjun drags him to attend the matches just to see Jaemin - even if he doesn’t admit it and insists he just want to stop by to see if Coach Johnny would miraculously put Jisung to play- so he's forced to sit in bleachers almost every week and he can’t even look at the players faces because of the helmets. The fun only happens after the whistle blows and Renjun moves to the fence and Jaemin comes running all excited to talk to him, then Donghyuck is left all alone to see all the fresh out the match players and maybe guess if he remembers any of their faces from class. That’s how he met Jeno.

They had already seen each other in the hallways and in class but they never had a real conversation, not that they talk a lot when they’re in the same room anyway. It all ended up with an unspoken agreement of no strings attached, they make out sometimes and sneak out from a couples classes, nothing serious. Jeno is not the only one but neither is Donghyuck so it never was a problem, they’re aware of each others fame. 

“Well, if I run now i can still stop by the locker room.” He states like someone who has all the time of the world and Donghyuck just smiles disbelieving his ears.

You see, Jeno is a football player. The classic stereotype, who wears his jacket with his number on the back everywhere, flirts with half of the school but he actually is pretty nice. And handsome, that really helps with all the flirting. And anyone would expect he’s dumb right? After all everything has a downside, but he is actually kinda smart. Off course, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed but his smartass humor and nice smile makes him get away with a lot of stuff, it’s pretty endearing if you ask Donghyuck. His smartass probably being the reason they continued talking. But sometimes he says stuff like that, proving that he still has to think a little more before talking.

“And somehow you're still lying on the floor of my dorm.” Jeno freezes in place for a couple of moments before realizing that he really has to run before Coach Johnny kicks his ass all the way to the detention.

“OH RIGHT!” He picks up his phone from the floor, looking at the time with a panicked face, quickly gets up putting on sneakers and bolts out the room, slamming the door on the way out.

Donghyuck winces from the loud bang and walks to the mirror to fix his hair. Not even ten seconds later he hear footsteps coming back and Jeno opening the door. 

“Not even a goodbye kiss?” And Donghyuck can hear the smirk on his voice.

Without looking up from the mirror and still focused on his hair, he laughs.

“Goodbye Lee Jeno!”

Jeno not looking one bit surprised, shrugs with a smile, closes the door and Donghyuck can actually hear him running down the hallway when he yells “See you later sunshine!”

\--------------------------------------------

_Friday Morning, Donghyuck and Renjun’s Dorm. 24th October. 6:43 AM._

“Almost thought you wouldn’t make it for morning check up.” Donghyuck says as he notices Renjun coming in. They share the same room for about five years, or since they both entered the Ambrosian Academy on New York. The boarding school was commonly known for being one of the best schools in the area and for being the home for many international students, mainly for asian students. The school motto was “Forming a family” and that described a lot of how it was living there, being from a far away country, no one speaks your language and nobody knows you? Your friends were definitely your family. The people you could count on. And Renjun and Donghyuck are like that. 

They arrived on the same week at the beginning of 2004, both being thirteen. Despite of coming from different countries, they got along already since day one. Renjun knew some korean and was a very good listener, Donghyuck talked most of the time and their sense of humor was pretty similar, the perfect match. But Renjun was still having a hard time pronouncing “Donghyuck” and Sun being one of the easiest korean words he knew, the nickname Haechan was born. They learned english together, since all the classes were taught like this, all the students were obligated to speak only in english and eventually became a habit. They still used korean but just when telling something they didn’t want others to know or gossiping, the special occasions.

Of course they have other friends but at the end of the day, they are the closest. Together they went through a lot. In eighth grade Donghyuck lost contact with his family for nearly a year, they wouldn't reply to his letters but still sent him money every month. He didn’t understand what was happening and Renjun was one of the only two people who knew what was going on and supported him when things were bad. Losing his parents when he was 8 years old and being taken care by his aunt and his cousin who teaches at their school, Renjun understood a lot of the sadness of being alone. They talked about it family every night for a whole year, each in his bed. Until one day Donghyuck mother came to New York and invited him to spend a weekend with her. Those were the only days Renjun didn’t see him in their entire friendship and when Donghyuck got back with a serious face and bad news, he was there for him. 

Haechan’s father had ran away. He never had a good relationship with his parents so it wasn’t a big surprise but he didn’t expected things turned out this serious, his mom was heartbroken and needed time to sort out things so she moved houses and sent him a letter that she was traveling for a year, but the letter never came. After a lot of talking and a lot of apologies they made up and from there, their relationship got a lot better and stronger. She started being more present and visiting him every month, until she opened her own store in the city and decided to move permanently. One day she asked him if he preferred transfering schools and moving in with her but Donghyuck only responded that he already had a family here and how he would like to stay where he is. 

A lot of time went by, and they still stop by her store every friday. Renjun being automatically added to the family and calling her Aunt Yongsun every time they meet 

“What are you talking about? I always make it for morning check up.” He says sitting in his bed. “I still don’t know why Kun bothers making breakfast, there is literally a cafeteria in the teachers building.” 

Kun is Renjun’s cousin who teaches Chinese in their school, and since Renjun started working on the movie theater near Donghyucks’s mom store at tuesdays and thursdays, he has permission to sleep on Kun’s dorm spare bedroom since the student’s building entrance closes at 10:30 pm and the movie theater only closes at midnight. The only condition being arriving for morning check-up. He and Donghyuck have a deal that Donghyuck is allowed to have boys sleep over if they don’t come near Renjun’s bed and please be gone before Doyoung takes attendance on their floor.

Every teacher is designated to a couple of floors to check if any student is missing or sick, to see if they need to stay in bed, go to the infirmary or report any accidents that happened over the night. Doyoung actually it’s not a teacher but he was a student a few years ago along with Kun and he assists all of the students as a psychologist, he has been taking care of their floor since they transfer so they are quite close with him, becoming friends and all but it doesn’t mean he goes easier with them.

They hear a knock on the door and Donghyuck screams “It’s open!” The door opens revealing a bored Doyoung looking at his clipboard. 

“Good morning brats.” He quickly looks at them and mark their attendance. “ Be late today and I won’t hesitate to have your heads on plate gotcha?”

“Yes sir.” Both half-hearted. 

“Good.” He looks at them for a last time before closing the door.

Renjun lays on his side, facing Donghyuck’s back and scans the room, looking for signs from his last night entertainment. Not that he doesn’t already know who it is, he always knows from Haechan’s mouth anyways (despite being adamant clear that he really doesn’t want to know). He looks at the purple cushion on the floor and winces, thinking about sleeping on the hard floor.

“Did you at least give him a blanket?” He asks feeling discomfort on his back already.

“We have a carpet?”

“It’s still the floor, Haechan.”

“He has a jacket Renjun, i’m sure he wasn’t cold.” Donghyuck answers and turns back to the mirror. Renjun gives up and just lays completely on the bed, the mattress feeling softer after the cold walk to the dorm. He turns his head to look to talk to Haechan but something catches his attention first, there’s something under Donghyuck’s bed who looks familiar. He gets up and kneels taking a look at it, he quickly inspects it and gets up, showing the varsity jacket with Jeno’s familiar 94 on the back through the reflexion.

“Looks like Jisung is on delivery duty today.”

Donghyuck turns to look at the sports jacket with the schools logo and colors who looks back at him and sighs. “Oh for god’s sake, why they always forget something?”

Renjun laughs and throws it in Donghyuck’s bed.

“Teenager jock brains only two functions are: thinking about football and thinking about boys.” He says wisely.

“You mean girls.” Donghyuck corrects.

Renjun shrugs. “I said what i said.” Donghyuck laughs and accidentally exposes his neck at the same time Renjun focus on one point at the mirror. ”Speaking of boys, you might wanna cover that up.” He points a hickey peeking out from Donghyuck’s collar, mostly hidden but still visible if you pay attention.

“I know.” He groans and analyzes the purple spot in the mirror. “I’m out of concealer and Doyoung will literally kick my ass if i take his make up again.”

“Self preservation, I see.” He thinks for a while. “Well I guess you’ll just have to deal with it, it’s not like anyone can’t guess who did it anyway.” And shrugs.

Donghyuck looks at him offended. “Wow, the mean bitch came out early this morning.”

Renjun laughs and moves away, puts on his coat in top of his uniform’s jacket, grabs his backpack and puts on his sneaks on by the door. “Yes, and the mean bitch and you have Biology also early this morning, so grab your coat and let’s go quickly so Doyoung won’t have our heads on a plate, please?”

“Okay, I’m coming.” Donghyuck grabs Jeno’s jacket, puts it on his backpack and dresses his coat trailing after Renjun down the hallway and descending the stairs. “But we still have to stop by Jisung’s bench!”

\--------------------------------------------

_Friday Morning, Students Building Ground Floor. 24th October. 7:02 AM._

Two floors later, they reach the ground floor and Renjun stops by the glass door, and looks outside getting ready to face the cold outside. “I hate this fucking town.” He says tired and sighs looking damp.

Donghyuck laughs also looking at the sky outside, patting his shoulder “No you don’t.” Right now it’s beginning of autumn in New York and the trees already are all looking half-dead and holding to a few oranges leaves who insists in falling everywhere. The sky it’s gloomy and the wind was pretty strong yesterday but today things seem a little calmer. The type of weather who makes you turn all the lights inside because still is kind of dark outside even in the morning. All of the students were wearing long coats and winter clothes already. Donghyuck himself was wearing a black one and Renjun was wearing a navy one with a blue scarf. He wonders if even with this weather Jisung and Chenle still would be at the bench near the tree in front of the main hall.

“Okay but i hate this weather.” Renjun arguments.

“That’s understandable.” They stare at the dark clouds in the sky with sadness, recalling the sunny weather from two weeks ago, Donghyuck guesses it’s just their punishment for skipping chemistry class last week. “And why does it change it all the time? Pick one for god's sake” He say exasperated looking at the gray sky. “At least today is friday.”

“Good morning boys.” 

They turn at the same searching for the voice’s owner and come to face with Jaemin, wearing a white turtleneck, a long creamy color coat and has his fading pink hair hair styled back, hands in his pockets. He comes closer offering a sweet smile for both before talking. 

“I agree with you, this weather it’s the worst for practice.” He says positioning himself between them but still a little behind as he stops looking at the clouds through the doors.

“As expect from Mr. Captain.” Renjun jokes, turning to him and Jaemin smiles teasingly.

“Always ready for you Junnie.” Donghyuck watches as Renjun’s cheeks get redder and redder and sighs, thinking on way of rescuing him from Jaemin.

Jaemin is the school’s football team captain, which obviously makes him one of the most popular students at this school, the one who does not impress him certainly doesn't even have a chance in getting in the football team, so about 25% of his reputation comes from being a little to harsh. The other 75% comes from his looks and his blinding smile - at one match Renjun and Donghyuck came up with a theory “ _All of the players in the football team are that pretty and for what? My death? ‘Cause I'm pretty sure that they're out to kill us._ ”- he’s probably also the most charming person ever, so good luck with that. Because of his popularity and Donghyuck’s few “encounters” with one of the players, they already knew each other then after he started working in the same shift as Renjun’s at the movie theater three years ago, they all got closer. 

Jaemin had pretty much the whole school at his feet if he wanted to, even more that Donghyuck, but he really had not showed interest in anyone. A few hook ups over the years and that’s it. But dating? No one. Until one day at work he asked out Renjun out of the blue. Who, by the way, had grown a crush on him for three months and obviously said yes, and that’s how it started. They dated for two and a half years and it was quite peaceful, both were really sweet and Donghyuck was happy for them. 

Until, of course, something happened.

About six months ago, Jaemin suffered a car accident on his way to work and had a lesion on his abdomen. Nothing severe, but he went through surgery and stayed unconscious for a week and half, Renjun stayed by his hospital bed the whole time until he woke up. But after a few days he asked for a time out.

The thing is, Renjun’s parents died from a car accident. He was eight and waiting at home with his aunt and his cousin when the news arrived. He was crushed as everything he knew seem to be taken away from him, and in the end he blamed himself. For a few years it was hard, everyday was a new challenge, a new fight. But with a lot of help and support he eventually found peace. Still misses them everyday, but decided to move on. A new start, a new country, a new family, so many exciting things to see, to feel, to eat, to meet. Even a new friend, someone who understands him and supports him through all. Everything seem to be okay when that's how the next years went by, calmer and definitely happier.

But when Jaemin crashed, suddenly everything came back. Just the thought of losing him kept Renjun up at night, crying beside Jaemin’s bed all the time that he was unconscious, and eventually when Jaemin woke up they decided to give it some time. He needed time to think and help himself from not falling in the hole of guilt again, he was stronger this time but still needed time to heal.

After they broke up, Renjun still went to the hospital everyday and stood by his side for every step of his recuperation until he was completely healed and back on the football team. Jaemin officially got back three months ago and the day of his first match Renjun and him had dinner to celebrate and check on each other, both were getting better quicker. Donghyuck remembers exactly the date of that day because he never saw Renjun get back to their dorm in such a bright state. A couple weeks later when they were at Donghyuck mom’s store Renjun told him that he wanted Jaemin back since and he was sure.

Why they are not together right now? Ask Renjun yourself because every time Donghyuck asks him he hears a _“He must be busy.”_ for an answer. He knows it’s bullshit and Renjun it’s just afraid to ask Jaemin out and if Jaemin for some reason would tell him “No.” And everyone told him that this never gonna happen and Jaemin looks at him like he hung all the stars in the sky but he still won’t listen, so Donghyuck stops insisting and prays to Jaemin to save Renjun from himself.

_Oh right! Saving Renjun!_

“Hey, you aren’t supposed to be at practice? Jersey and all?” He says distracting the attention from Renjun and thanking mentally from Jeno being a dumbass.

“Actually yes, but i was given permission to pick up my friend from the airport. It should take actually like half an hour since he’s already waiting for me, so we can still get to class early.” He responds turning to Donghyuck instead.

“Oh! Then you should go!” He says with a fake smile and sinalizes to the door, trying to get rid of Jaemin before Renjun faints on the spot because of some lame flirting. “Since you know... he’s already waiting and all!”

Jaemin smiles. “You’re right.” He passes by them, opens the doors and before leaving he turns back at both. “I’m going now. Bye Hyuck” He faces Renjun, smile never leaving his face. “Bye Junnie, see you around.” And winks.

He gets out but before closing the door, he seems to think and opens again facing Donghyuck “By the way Hyuck, I think you’ll like him.”

Donghyuck freezes for a moment and stares at him, he motions to ask what does he mean when Jaemin’s phone goes off, he looks at the caller and winces, he looks one last time at the boys and says “Okay I really gotta go now, bye!” running out the door. Donghyuck yells “Bye!” and Renjun waves, both watching him leave.

They wait until Jaemin turns the corner going to the parking lot and it’s out of sight and Donghyuck turns to Renjun accusingly. “Blushing? Really? I thought you were a mean bitch not a weak bitch.” He says nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow.

“Let me be weak, will you? He’s just…” Renjun seems to think for a moment but gives up. “I don’t know okay?” ending with a sigh and looking hopelessly outside.

Sudden memories from from two years ago pop on Donghyuck’s. They were all happy, laughing at Jaemin spinning while he adds butter in a bucket of popcorn and Renjun half yelling, half laughing telling that he was spilling butter everywhere and they would have to clean it later, Donghyuck laughing his mind of while sitting on the counter almost falling but back being supported by someone sitting behind him also laughing, leg crashing against a guitar case, he misses them. He misses _him_. 

More thoughts come back but he quickly pushes them away before falling down the rabbit hole. He faces Renjun, sighing “I… get it, so… don’t worry I get it, alright?” Giving him a reassuring smile. Renjun nods and smiles back.

Donghyuck then opens a bigger one and pushes the door, holding it and looking expectantly at Renjun, who sighs in defeat, smiles and passes by him, joking. “Fucking jocks right?”

Donghyuck agrees and laughs, letting go of the door and exiting the building. “Tell me about it.”

\--------------------------------------------

_Friday Morning, Ambrosian Academy Patio. 24th October. 7:22 AM._

They walk in a comfortable silence. Only the sound of music from the shared earphones making itself known. Usually they don’t really listen to music on the way to class since it’s about a five minute walk, but today they’re stopping by Jisung’s and Chenle’s bench which is near the cafeteria and some blocks away from the main hall entrance. 

The Ambrosian Academy campus is one of the largest and most capable of accommodating a large number of students, so it resembles a university quite a lot. The buildings are connected by large cement paths and there are some different elements along the way, but there is also many trees scattered across the area. So when Donghyuck first arrived he thought that it looked just like a park. With the quick change of seasons this year, most the leaves had already fallen painting the gray with a pretty orange and the grass which stayed an insistent green the whole year was looking dried and yellowish. In reality the worst part of autumn was the wind. Usually, you can find many park benches occupied with students for most of the time, but with the arrival of the cold wind there is almost no one persistent enough to stay outside. _Almost._

“Remind me again why did I let you choose the music today?” Renjun breaks the silence. “You only listen to this playlist. It’s not even a choice anymore!”

“Because it’s made of my favorite songs, you know... the point of a playlist, Renjunie~.” Donghyuck says pulling his hands from his pockets, rubs them quickly to warm up and puts inside again.

“Oh, yes.” He answers sweetly and Donghyuck just knows he’s screwed. “And I also didn't know you liked John Mayer and Frank Ocean that much Haechannie?” 

Donghyuck instantly feels his hands losing all the warmth and gives up. Let them freeze, who needs hands this days? “You know you ain’t slick right?”

And apparently Renjun is satisfied with Donghyuck’s reaction. “You are the one who ain’t slick. John Mayer? Really? I had to listen to Mark torturing that poor guitar trying to play his entire discography for months.” He says wincing at the memory.

_Ouch._

Donghyuck really has no answer to Renjun right now, he also doesn’t know why he chose to listen to Frank Ocean and John Mayer today. There is this feeling since yesterday who just won’t let him sleep, it's like he has to get up and do something really important but he doesn’t know what it is, a sensation in a forgotten part of his brain that is driving him insane since yesterday. It’s tiring and he doesn’t know what to do so he picked the songs that could distract him the most and hoped that his mind take him somewhere safe from this chaos. It didn't. Only made it worse.

“I’m fine Renjun, I swear.” A sigh.

“I’m sure you are.” Donghyuck glares at him but Renjun sustains his gaze and keeps walking. “What? You know what I think about this.”

They turn left at a corner and Donghyuck catches sight of two bodies sitting on a park bench ahead and sighs relieved. He almost thought they weren’t coming. “About what?” 

“Don't play pretend with me Haechan, you're better than this." And Donghyuck can only sigh back and keep walking. He's not in the mood to have this conversation, not now and surely not this close to Chenle and Jisung.

It's Renjun's turn to sigh this time. "It’s okay to miss him you know? Everyone does.” His voice soft like he's talking to himself, Donghyuck knows better than this. _Yeah like things are this easy_. And they finally come to a stop,

“Oooh… Who are we talking about?” The shortest one says with a beaming smile. That's Chenle, Renjun’s cousin and a literal ball of sunshine (If you ask Donghyuck, Chenle stayed with all the enthusiasm of the family but don’t let Renjun find out he said that or he’s dead meat), he dyed his hair too many times, has a pure heart, and probably talks more than he’s allowed. He’s just a year younger but sometimes looks like a five year old. When Chenle arrived in NY just a few years ago not speaking a bit of english, Renjun tutored him, helping with the lessons and suddenly he was part of their circle of friendship. It was him who introduced Jisung when he arrived a year later.

Jisung (the boy sitting beside Chenle) was a very shy kid and isolated himself at the back of the classroom not talking to anyone, until Chenle found him and decided and I quote “Hey, you are my new best friend.” He was introduced to Renjun and Donghyuck and the new addition of the friend group was inevitable. Despiste Jisung being all awkward and shy, he still is very tall and naturally fit so when he was 13 he tried out as a receiver for the football team and passed. The only issue was that to be an active player, he had to be at least 17 since then he is assisting the team and helping the coach on all the practices, giving him access to the players belongings and maybe sneaking back varsity jackets or jerseys when Donghyuck asks nicely. Maybe.

“None of your business.” Donghyuck sing-songs and Chenle shrugs and goes back to playing at his DS. “Hey Park, gives this to Lee Jeno for me please?” He throws the crumpled shirt at Jisung’s lap.

“Another player hyung?” Jisung analyzes the jacket, finding the number and looks in disbelief at Donghyuck. “What are you? An enchanter of football players or something? Could you give two steps back from me just for precaution?” He says tired and Renjun laughs out loud. Donghyuck gives him the stinky eye and turns to Jisung again.

“Ya Park Jisung! You’re not even a player, you’re a waterboy! And you lost your will to live brat?” Renjun is full on laughing at this point and Chenle couldn't care less so he just sighs and keeps talking, defeated. “Could you just give it to him?” And ends batting his lashes. “Please?”

Jisung looks nauseous. “Okay fine.”

“Thank you! Just he thought of going to the field at the end of the day with this wind makes him shiver from head to toe. “Wait talking about football, why are you not at practice too? Damn, if I were Johnny I would kick your asses.”

“Too? Who's not at practice?” Jisung asks looking puzzled. Donghyuck feels himself redden at the question and Jisung seems to understand, continuing. “Besides Jeno.”

“He _is_ at practice, you little shit.” He says rolling his eyes. “It’s that we saw Jaemin before coming and he is missing it too to pick up some friend at the airport or something.”

‘Oh yeah, that’s actually the reason why I’m missing it. Coach told me to rest today ‘cause apparently this guy is joining the team and things are going to be chaotic since there’s like a less than a month for the season start and we have a friendly match against Skyline School tomorrow. I’m helping all saturday. ”

“Wow, coming today and already joining the team? He must be good or something.” Renjun comments focusing on the conversation again.

“Yeah, I don’t know who he is ‘cause apparently no one knows besides Coach and Captain Jaemin, they’re being all secretive so my guess is that he’s famous.” He says the last part in a whisper, hand covering his mouth like telling a secret.

“Let’s hope he is at least hot.” Donghyuck says absentmindedly, pulling his flip phone from his pocket, checking the time and seeing they still have some time left to stop by the lockers.

Jisung points accusingly at Donghyuck and turns to Renjun for help. “Renjun hyung look at him! He’s doing it again!”

Renjun who only laughs again, nods and gives Jisung a comforting look. “Okay okay, we have to go now.” He faces Donghyuck and urges him to say goodbye. “Bye Jisung, bye Chenle!” 

Chenle averts his gaze from his game to Renjun and Donghyuck walking away and screams in response. “Bye Hyung!” Jisung waves at them and also screams “Bye Hyung! We’re stopping by Aunt Yongsun to buy things for the game so let us know when you’re going so we can go together okay?!”

“Okay! Bye!” And they go back the same way they came.

Donghyuck looks for the earphones in his pocket automatically but stops and decides against it at the end. Renjun notices and asks “No music?”

“Not this time.”

They walk in silence the rest of the way.

\--------------------------------------------

_Friday Morning, JFK International Airport’s Parking Lot. 24th October. 7:25 AM_

_He’s gonna complain I’m late, aren’t he…_

Apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex is playing on the radio and Jaemin couldn’t find more fitting. If the weather was bad back in school at the airport things were apocalyptic. The long car line at the entrance gate sure proved it. The sky was dark grey and it looked like it was already growing dark at 7am, but he was more surprised Mark’s flight had arrived. Coach once said Mark was an unstoppable force of the nature and drunk Jaemin answered with “Unstoppable my ass!” but maybe this time the old man was right for once - Johnny’s is actually not that old, he just acts like a dad all the time and one day he complained about his back hurting, then everyone calls him old ever since and no ones knows who started (it was Jisung) so he lets them - no one could stop Mark Lee when he’s determined. He is a year older then most of the team and his and Jaemin’s friends so he acts naturally like a older brother and takes care of everyone.

 _Once captain, always captain._ Jaemin was the new captain when Mark returned to Vancouver and he can’t say this slogan represents him too. He is a great captain and everyone respects him, Jaemin always has been the responsible and reliable one, the one who stays calm when everything turned upside down, the one who is put together and he doesn’t mind all of this but apparently football team captains have no. fucking. time. There is always something to do, someone to talk, schedules to follow, things to worry about, strategies and plays to memorize… Ever since he got back on his feet from the accident, everything just seem more 3 times more chaotic and Renjun isn’t even here to help him. 

_Good time to think about Renjun Jaemin, perfect timing._

Jaemin huffs and look up. He hits his head softly at the car headrest, cursing himself for thinking about Renjun. The one thing that makes him loses all his cool. All it took was one look and one smile for him to stay on Jaemin’s head for the rest of the day, as always. Renjun asked for space, he’s giving him space and that’s it. He knows how traumatic it was for him and he would still go to the hospital everyday, bring him food, help with homework, make sure to inform everything to his parents when they were still in Korea preparing to go NY to visit the hospital... Renjun did everything, he is a part of Jaemin and the one who lights up his days. And Jaemin knows Renjun thinks the same way about him. They just can’t find time to talk get back together now. _It’s ridiculous._

That’s why Mark’s arrival is special to Jaemin, he’s grateful. He’s so happy that Mark is coming back and even better as a captain, he misses having someone to talk to after practice or making stupid jokes and of course, all of their friends together. When Mark ghosted everyone, Jaemin was terrified. He is Mark, Mark Lee, his friend Mark, his teammate. He wouldn’t do this without a good reason so he panicked, he thought Mark was in the hospital or straight dead and they would never see him again. Then he showed up a month later saying everything was fine and spread the word that he’s fine and safe but he’s not coming back for a long time and might not even come back at all. He’s grateful to Mark, but Mark was not here to pick up the pieces from the things he broke.

_I hope the force of the nature thing is true after all._

**_BEEEEEP!!!!!!_ **

The loud horn of the car from behind startled Jaemin back into reality. He moved his car forward and quickly picked up the parking ticket, driving forward and trying to locate himself until seeing a group of people waiting at the sidewalk in front of the automatic doors. _Please be among them._ He pulls over in parallel to the sidewalk and rolls down the windows, looking for an annoyed looking canadian with black hair and round glasses.

“You’re late.”

_There he is._

“You're late.” Jaemin says in a mocking tone, staring at Mark, who lowers himself to look at Jaemin through the open window at the passengers door. His hair is pure black and he is using his old round glasses, just like when he sent a pic before boarding the plane. But in person he look more mature, older and Jaemin can't pinpoint why.

“Shut up and open the trunk.” Mark says and goes to the trunk and knocks twice, signalizing to Jaemin to open it.

“Wow, here I was thinking he might have changed.” Jaemin huffs as he presses the button to open the trunk. He looks at Mark through the rearview mirror to find him laughing as he puts his suitcase carefully, trying to position it in way it doesn’t shake that much and closes it.

“You really think I wouldn’t recognize this piece of junk. How did you manage to get this thing to look the same after the crash?” He moves to the the passenger door again and opens it, sitting beside Jaemin.

“Could you stop bad-mouthing my car? And it’s not a piece of junk it called having a personality.” 

Okay, for starters Jaemin’s car is really old. It was probably from the late 90s and it was a gift from his parents when he turned 15, for his “indepence” or whatever they call it - he _is_ living in a foreign country all by himself after all - and also for helping to help Mark. See, he and Mark were friends since birth because of their families proximity, they spent every Christmas, birthday and Thanksgiving together. And also studied in the same school their whole lives, then when they reached high school Jaemin’s parents decides to move to back to Korea and Mark’s parents decided to go back to Canada to move closer to Mark’s grandparents.

Actually it didn’t make that much of a difference since Jaemin and him were sharing a dorm at school, so the only change was that the apartment that Mark’s family was living in would be taken care by Jaehyun, Mark’s older brother for a couple months until he left for college in Seattle and then Mark could move in all by himself. Jaemin was also given the option to move in but he prefered to stay at the dorm and sleep at the apartment at weekends. 

And after Jaeyun left, eventually they ended up spending a lot of time in the car with all the back in forth from the apartment and the dorm. It started with moving week, when they spent a week eating inside of it, and when classes really started it was practically their meet up point. After practices, getting breakfast before class, drive thrus, even small road trips. It turned to the place that shielded them from the world, where they would always come back from the hardest stuff and know that they were coming home, wherever it was.

Mark sighs, slumping against the seat and closing his eyes.

“I’m home.”

Jaemin softens, leaving all the annoyance behind and staring at Mark’s figure.

“We missed you, buddy.”

Mark opens his eyes and turns to Jaemin with a soft smile.“I missed you guys too.”

“Ready?” Jaemin asks and motions to the key in the ignition.

“Yeah.”

The get out of the airport and they talk about a little bit of everything, the weather, the flight, the game tomorrow, Vancouver... It has been a while since they talked in person, Mark didn't have a lot of free time because of the many late night practices and trials for the scholarship. At one point they reach a comfortable silence, the only sound when Jaemin enters the highway in direction of the school is the radio, some random station. Mark still remembers the way to school and he is thankful that Jaemin decided to take long one, knowing that they still have fifteen minutes until they arrive, he decides to not worry too much about today and focus on the voices coming from the radio.

“The next song is a highly requested one! Now playing: Lost by Frank Ocean!” The DJ announces excitedly and the music plays immediately. Mark chuckles, gaining attention from Jaemin who sees him looking at the radio and also pays attention to the music, averting his gaze to the road again and he also chuckles when he recognizes the song.

“It’s like they knew you were coming.”

“Yeah. Somehow they always do.” 

One thing about Mark, he always liked music. When he was eight, he asked his parents for a guitar for Christmas because he decided to be a musician after seeing Kurt Cobain playing guitar on MTV. When he was ten, he got his first Michael Jackson tape and suddenly another big influence was introduced to his life. At eleven, things didn’t look so promising for his big music career, he had a difficult time learning the chords and it was tiring holding the guitar for a long time because of his size, but he still didn’t give up. After a whole week of nagging and promise of a tidy room for two months, Jaehyun finally gave in and agreed to teach Mark the basics until he could play a whole song by himself.

Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson.

Donghyuck’s favorite song. _Maybe not anymore._ Mark wouldn’t know. He is just trying to not panic because today… Today he goes back to his “old life” or something similar and everything has probably changed instead of waiting for him. _Hopefully almost everything._ He had the option to rest the weekend and start on monday but there’s people that counted on him and they have a match tomorrow, he needs to be in it to get a grip. To put his head on the game when the real season starts. Maybe to see _him_ sooner. 

_Head on the game, my ass._

Jaemin leans back on his seat, holding the steering wheel with one hand. He waits for a couple of moments and keeps the speed still. “I think he knows too, you know?” He states calmly, still looking at the road.

Mark turns his gaze back at the window, blocking the flood of memories who threaten to run his mind. “You saw him?” He asks remembering Jaemin talking about he was so busy he almost doesn’t see neither Renjun or Donghyuck, only in matches but as the season didn’t started yet it’s been a while since last time.

Jaemin chuckles at memory. “Yeah, today actually. Before picking you up. He and Renjun were complaining about the weather at the students building and he asked why I wasn’t at practice.” Mark raises his head and eyes Jaemin, who keeps talking. “then I said I was going to the airport to pick up a friend and he had this look in his eyes…” He tilts his head for a second recalling the moment. “I think he knows.”

“He always remembered when I had practice on Fridays.” Mark says sinking in his seat, thinking back on two years ago, whe he when Donghyuck started dating. “He always woke me up half an hour before and insisted until i got ready, he had like this crazy waking-up-right-on-time-thing that only worked on fridays.” He turns back to the window and stares at the sky, it’s so dark that is unusual even for New York. “I guess he still has it.”

_I guess some things never change._

Donghyuck always knew when Mark was coming back. Everytime. From trips, practices, classes, late night runs, when he went straight to Donghyuck’s bed after a stressful day or when he was late to class. Somehow he always knew he will find Mark coming right back into his arms needing hugs or just someone to spend time in silence while he organizes his thoughts. All the times Donghyuck was questioned he would only answer “It’s because I care.” and after all the years they spent together, Jaemin has witnessed himself several times and he doubts Donghyuck doesn't care anymore to ignore Mark even after a whole year. But oh god how it’s hard to convince Mark himself.

Everyone can see from miles away how they still love and care for each other and definitely should be together, they just need to sit down and talk. But Jaemin promised to Renjun that he would not medle, even if Mark asked him to. So he just hopes that they find out on their own. _I got my own little problem to focus on._

As they see the open front gates coming closer and closer, Mark involuntarily holds his breath when they pass through, exhaling only when Jaemin parks the car at the open parking lot behind the main building and turns off the vehicle.

“Okay, you know the plan, I have your uniform at the backseat and all your clothes in the suitcase at the trunk. You change in the bathroom and I put your suitcase in your car. We all have classes until mid-day but we go out by the back since your car is parked here” He points at a car parked besides them “today is friday so they’ll probably have lunch at downtown and go to Aunt’s store while we stay here to prepare for tomorrow and figure out things with the team. Any doubts?”

“What about Jisung? If he sees me the first thing he’s gonna do is tell Donghyuck.”

Jaemin nods. “Coach gave him the day off.”

“Jaemin, breathe please?” He mocks Jaemin one breath explanation.

“Mark Lee, you’re not captain yet. I will not hesitate to kick your ass

He looks one last time over the window and ignores the threat. “Wow, you and Johnny really thought of everything.” Mark says genuinely surprised with the plan. Johnny knows that Mark is the most stubborn person he ever met and that nothing could stop him from running to Donghyuck’s arms the minute he lands in NYC, unless there’s some explicit order or Donghyuck himself prevents him. So the condition established by him for Mark being able to play at Saturday was not seeing Donghyuck until game time. _“I know this is a big deal for you but I want you focused.”_ He said over the phone the night before. Then they had think of a plan to avoid the boy until Saturday evening. That’s where Jaemin’s plan entered. Unfortunately, no one told Johnny that the players had their own plan too.

“You’re sure you wanna do this?” Jaemin asks for the last time.

“Yeah, I’m doing things right this time.” The pen in his pocket feeling heavier by the minute. _I just hope he wants too._

“Let’s go then.” He nods.

They get out the car and Jaemin moves to the trunk as Mark opens the backseat door, chest feeling heavy. The first thing he sees is Navy suit with a dark turquoise logo embroidered on it, his uniform. He kinds off missed it, it’s weird how you miss even the smallest stuff when you’re far away for a long time. Then he sees the varsity jacket, it has his name and a 02 at the back that stares right back at him. He picks up both, a smile forming on his face and confidence coming back in full form.

Mark slams the door.

_Here goes nothing._

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading the first chapter and let me know your theories!  
> come yell at me at my socials:  
> cc: [callistoisnotaplanet](https://curiouscat.qa/callistoisnotplanet)  
> tt: [planetcallisto](https://twitter.com/planetcallisto)
> 
> byeee


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